(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an in-vehicle hands-free apparatus that allows a telephone call without holding a car phone or a mobile phone while driving.
(2) Description of the Related Art
There have been conventional in-vehicle hands-free apparatuses that allow drivers to talk over the phones without holding car phones or mobile phones provided in the cars.
As an example of these apparatus, an in-vehicle hands-free apparatus that allows a user, namely, a driver thereof, to hold or resume a call depending on situations of his own and his car is known. (See Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. H10-304464, for example.)
FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing control of a conventional in-vehicle hands-free apparatus.
According to this flow, the conventional in-vehicle hands-free apparatus controls a hands-free call, based on navigation data and speed of a car captured during the call, so as to hold the call by sending a driver and his party of the call a message notifying that the call is to be held for a while when it is expected that heavy-loaded driving performance is required for the driver, for example, the car is about to arrive at a junction point and merge into a main lane of an expressway within a predetermined time, and to cancel the hold when the driver or the car returns to the normal condition. It also controls a call in the same manner so as to hold the call by sending a message notifying that the call is to be held for a while when it is judged that heavy load of driving performance is being put on a driver because various sensors for detecting running conditions of a car detect the car in hard cornering or the like, and to cancel the hold when the car or the driver returns to the normal condition.
However, according to the above-mentioned in-vehicle hands-free apparatus, a call is held unilaterally on a user's (a driver's) side without prior notice, so what his party says could be lost if the hold of the call interrupts his talk.
Therefore, even if the call is resumed after the hold is cancelled, the driver cannot understand what his party said due to insufficient communication. The party also cannot understand how far his talk has been delivered to the driver, so he needs to repeat what he said or confirm that the driver has grasped what he said, and thus cannot return to the call smoothly. That is a problem.
In addition, interruption of conversation may cause a driver's mind to be occupied with what the following conversation will be, depending on what they have talked, and thus he is in danger of losing his concentration on driving.